About Me

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Back in my hometown of Jonesboro., Arkansas, United States
My name is Dimitri Harris and I have been building frames for over 9 years now. I learned the basics after spending two weeks with Koichi Yamaguchi. He is one of the most interesting people I have ever met and I am thankful to have worked with him. Since then I have just been building one frame after another and learning as much as possible along the way. I build steel fillet-brazed frames that go by the name of MEECH, which is an old nickname that I have had since I was a kid. I build mostly cyclocross frames because I love their versatility however I also do road,single-speed, and mountain bikes as well. Custom frames start around $1400. All the frames are handmade by me here in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I am insured and guarantee all of my work so if you are in the market for a custom steel frame I would be glad to build it for you. I am also building frames from carbon fiber so if you would like to ride a prototype frame give me a shout. Thanks for stopping by. You can email me at meech151@hotmail.com or call (870)897-6703 or visit www.meechcustombicycles.com Thanks.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Contador Takes the Giro

Alberto Contador secured the overall victory in the Giro d' Italia yesterday in Stage 20 after getting dropped with roughly 2oK to go.  He had a rough day but in the end was strong enough to keep two minutes between himself and runner-up Fabio Aru, who won stages 19 and 20.

I have no idea where Contador's team was during most of this Giro but he was alone for most of the key moments of the last half of the entire race, like this dirt-road climb in Stage 20. 

My favorite quote from this year's Giro was by Contador after he survived Stage 20 and basically had won the Maglia Rosa, he said, 
"We'll eat good tonight, however, I will need to watch my weight for the upcoming Tour."

You'd think that a guy, who probably only weighs a buck twenty five, and had ridden 2000+ miles over the course of 3 weeks, wouldn't be too worried about eating a little bit before a race that's over a month away.  I guess that's why he is a grand tour champion many times over.

Astana was clearly the most stacked team in this year's race and Little Al is gonna have a hard time winning the Tour if he finds himself in the same situation come July.  However, I could never bring myself to bet against him after watching him win this one.  He suffered crashes, mechanicals, a dislocated shoulder, multiple attacks from Astana, and he still managed to come out on top.  He wants the Giro-Tour double bad.

Yesterday Fabio Aru eventually caught and dropped Ryder Hesjedal and Rigoberto Uran to win Stage 20.  Apparently Fabio Aru had a big passion for motocross early on however his parents didn't like him racing motorcycles and so he ended up on a bicycle.  I know the feeling.  I knew I liked him for some reason.  He also attacks really hard.  When he goes, he holds it on for so long that it looks like he would blow himself up.


Overall this was an excellent grand tour and one of the better ones that I remember.  I enjoyed watching it on http://www.steephill.tv/ where all these photos were taken from.  They've got some of the best race coverage around.  Check'em out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Nathan's 30c Road Racer

Finally!  At long last I finally got Nate's frameset finished up.  I was beginning to wonder when I would actually finish this frame.  I was only feeling the pressure that I put on myself, but trust me, that's more than enough.  This was such a straightforward build that I never imagined it would take me so long.  In the end, it was nothing more than getting the time away from everything else in order to focus on building a good (I think great) frameset.  These last few weeks my head has been really cloudy. 

"Was it your allergies D?"

No. They really haven't been that bad.

"Was it because your eyes seem to be getting bad and you can't see very good?"

I don't believe that it was, however, these past few months I can tell my eyes are not quite as good as they have been and glasses are in the near future.

"Was it the fact that your mother-in-law was visiting for 3 weeks?"

No. I enjoy having Sally come visit us.  She makes a lot of baked goods and also has this killer recipe for some type of baked shrimp scampi casserole that Red Lobster needs to get a hold of.

"Was it the fact that your wife wanted to go on vacation?"

Nope.  We still haven't been on vacation.  We haven't had a real vacation in probably 3 years, but we're taking Jack, Dizzy, and Pinky on a little beach trip here in about a week.  Can't wait.

"Was it because you think you may be moving back to Jonesboro and you're gonna have to haul a house full of junk back there?"

It is a possibility.

"Was it because you've been putting in 300 mile weeks for the last month?"

Haha.  I haven't put in 300 miles in the last month.

"Was it because Louis Maxximus "Soul Katt" Jackson has been MIA for the last 3 weeks?"

That certainly hasn't helped matters.  I haven't completely healed from "Pump It" Danny dying.

"Then what was it D?"

Honestly, I think it was nothing more than having too many things to do in the time that I have to get it all done.  Luckily for me, my customers have patience. And I do appreciate you all asking.  Sometimes you just gotta air it out in order to move forward. Now let's go check out this frame because it's shipping manana.

"What's manana?"

That's supposed to be pronounced "man-yana" but I don't remember how to put the little accent symbol over the "n".

"Shut up Dimitri and let's go look at Nate's frame."

Ok. Vamos. This is a special frame to me and I'll tell yall why a bit later.


This frame is painted black, white, and egg-shell blue for those who may be color blind.

Enve carbon pointing you where you want to go.

Love these little brass cable tension adjusters.

This is the first time in quite a while that I didn't paint the seat lug a different color, but given the color scheme of this frame I think that black looks appropriate.

I always put a picture of the rear end because everyone loves a nice hiney. Also, you might be really fast and not ever get to see the rear end of another bicycle.  As for myself, arses are all I see anymore, millions and millions of arses.  Nothing but arses.  Arses, arses, and more arses. Arses.





Love these little brass cable tension adjusters.

"You already said that!" 

I know, I know.  I'm just messing with you.  I'm getting old.  I have been telling the same stories over and over to people who've already heard them all.  Worse part is, I know I've told them and I continue to tell it.  The other day I'm almost certain that I had the same exact conversation with the guy at the paint store that we had two months ago.  While we were talking I was looking at his eyes thinking, "Does he remember having this same conversation two months ago?" And his eyes were telling me, "Dude, you told me this same story two months ago." I went ahead and finished the story for the second time because you can't just stop right in the middle.


In case you didn't know, these frames are handmade by MEECH in Mountain Home, Arkansas.



MEECH Custom Bicycles
Handmade in 
Mountain Home, Arkansas

Louis Maxximus has been missing for over 3 weeks now and I hate to say it but I think he's on higher ground now.  We've lost both of our cats in the last 6 months. We're not sure what happened but we fear that he may have run into a bigger animal.  Louis wasn't a big cat but he had a big heart.  Over the course of roughly 7-8 years, I saw Louis come home several times knowing he had been on the rougher side of a skirmish. Louis was a lover, not a fighter.  After a rough night out, he'd always eat a little food, lick his wounds, take a nap, and then the next morning he'd be right back at it.  He never made any excuses, he just gave everything he had on every given day.  If a cat has 9 lives then Louis Maxximus used 'em all, and then some.  Hell, I've seen him use a couple in one day.  Louis has been an employee here at MEECH since the very beginning.  Every frame that I've built Louis has been in the shop with me at one time or another and he gave each frame his blessing.  I'm gonna miss him stopping by during the afternoon to visit and see how the frames are coming. Louis was like a ghost.  You could never find him when you wanted to and then as soon as you'd give up looking he'd just appear out of nowhere.  Nate's frame is the last frame that Louis participated in building, but his heart and soul will continue to go into every frame that leaves the shop.  That's the reason MEECH frames climb so well.  I've seen Louis run 30 feet straight up the side of a tree before he ever stopped to look around.  So the next time that you're riding your MEECH and you see a steep hill in front you, have no fear, because Louis Maxximus "Soul Katt" Jackson is here. Love ya Lou!







Friday, May 15, 2015

Giro d'Italia

Here is a picture of little Al after Stage 6 of the Tour of Italy.  He was caught up in a crash in the finish line sprint and ended up with a dislocated shoulder.  He couldn't even put on the Maglia Rosa while standing on the podium but still managed to start today's stage.

I just finished watching Stage 7, which was the longest stage of the race this year at something like 264 km, and Al was there at the finale if my eyes didn't deceive me.
I don't think there is anyone actually tough enough to beat him when he is 100%.  Tomorrow's stage has a mountain-top finish, and so if he doesn't fall off the pace tomorrow, I can't imagine there is much hope for anyone while he will continually heal. Talk about getting inside your opponent's head.  Alberto Contador is one fierce competitor. This is a fun race to watch. It might be as good as the Vuelta a couple of years ago in 2012.


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube3/?title=Last 10 Km of Stage 5&dashboard=giro-d-italia&id=L777UJTuwvI&yr=2015

http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube3/?title=Last 10 Km of Stage 5&dashboard=giro-d-italia&id=L777UJTuwvI&yr=2015

Jobst Brandt Died



This news is a few days old but I thought I'd post it anyway.  I didn't know much about Jobst Brandt, in fact, the only time I really heard anything about him at all was through the book, The Bicycle Wheel.  I used it to build my very first wheel and continued to use it on many more. As it turns out, he was a very important part in the Avocet company, which made my favorite saddle, not to mention the best saddle of all time (according to my butt anyway), the Avocet o2 Air.

Apparently Jobst was way more famous in the world of bicycles than I knew, as are many others, and it seems as though he is one to be remembered.

https://rayhosler.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/jobst-brandt-leaves-behind-memories-to-last-a-lifetime/


Giro de Italia Coverage

The previous link to the Giro coverage doesn't seem to come up with any live streaming so here is a more recent one. With this one you sometimes have to weed through some pop-ups but it will eventually come up.

http://www.yopika.tv/20150507/v-haha_sport_9_name-1066488-554b96f6c115f8.48987506.html

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Nate's 30c Road Frame

It's taken me a while but I finally got all the finish work done on Nate's frame. Getting things done in a timely manner seems to be a challenge these days.  Tomorrow I'm gonna lay down some primer and get it ready for painting.  Here are a couple of pics of the raw frame before we put a face on it.

I thought I would show this one brazing photo because after I finished it I said to myself that it had to be my best fillet brazed to date. I know it probably doesn't look any different from the rest of them but somethings you just know.  When they come out like this it lessens the clean-up work.  Let's go check out the rest of the frame.


















These holes are offset for a reason.  The larger one is for the cable guide and it permits the straightest line to the rear derailleur cable stop.  The smaller one is simply to let water out of the bottom bracket shell should you go for a rain ride.  Needless to say, clean your bike good after a rain ride.



My favorite brake bridge.


This is my favorite part about this frame and its right up the alley of my way of thinking.  We got a 30c tire here tucked in nicely under a standard brake caliper.  Depending on the brand of tire you may even get a 32c tire in there.  This is the "go anywhere, year-round road bike".

Let's paint it!







Hour Record Broken Again